Footage appeared to show Meshane Spivey – who during an interview for the show said she worried her three children were “spending too much time in front of screens”— staring at a cell phone downstairs during the entirety of the incident.

The footage does not show any beating and Spivey claimed that he did not hit strike Marcus with the belt and only hit the bed.

“Those types of shows are very well edited by producers to drive controversy,” Spivey told IE.

“We have whooped our kids, yeah,” Spivey said, claiming to not remember what led to that day’s incident.

His wife added: “That situation, he had taken something that belonged to his dad and he lied about it over and over again."

“I think he’s too scared to tell the truth,” Frost replied.

Ultimately Spivey said he and Frost would have to “agree to disagree” on the issue and disconnected the call.

“I do not believe in corporal punishment. If you’re going to use pain as a practice to instill better behavior then you’re going to raise your children to fear you," Frost said. "It creates emotional and mental health problems my job is to teach positive parenting and techniques that bring peace and harmony and confidence and connection."

Spivey told reporters that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigated the incident but found no evidence of wrongdoing.

A spokeswoman for DCFS told IE that by law they could neither confirm nor deny any investigation into the matter took place.

Spivey told IE that he believed the episode helped drive ratings for the show, which he said “had received no publicity up until that point.”